Image Training
by Aviantei
Summary: The bullies, the bullied, the heroes, and those that are running away. Will they become the people they're expected to be, or will they fall flat of their expectations? Attending university, Satoshi finds himself trying to deal with the consequences of his high school days alongside his classmates. SatoshixOC
1. Tuesday, April 16

**Image Training**

By: Aviantei

Tuesday, April 16

* * *

"Come on, Tanae-san, please give it back," Mukui Shinju asked quietly, looking up at his classmate with wide eyes. Tanae, sitting idly on the banister by the building's entrance, flicked a coin up into the air, catching it without looking. Besides the fact that he wasn't in a uniform, he looked the very part of the high school bully, bleached hair messy and a superior sneer on his face. Mukui winced, his eyes watching the flicker of silver as it streaked through the air, again and again. "Tanae-san… please be careful with that…"

"What for?" Tanae asked, his expression unfazed by Mukui's protests. "It's just a coin, right? What's it matter? It's only 100 yen anyway. It's useless." He faked tossing the coin across the courtyard, causing Mukui to whip his head around in panic. He only looked back once Tanae laughed and showed the coin in his palm. "Come on, man. I can't even buy a soda with this…"

"Well, yes, but…" Mukui blushed a little beside himself. "It's actually a good luck charm. I've had it for years, so if you'd please just give it back…" It took all the effort he had to look the other boy in the eyes as he made his request. Mukui recoiled as Tanae laughed again.

"Well if it got stolen it can't be that lucky." Mukui's eyes shot down to the ground. "Sides, how can you even keep this one apart from any other 100 yen coin? At least put it on a string or something. Protect what's valuable to you. I bet this isn't even the same coin you thought was lucky in the first place!"

Mukui shifted on his feet, but didn't move otherwise. He was powerless in a situation like this. While he had never been bullied before, it wasn't a situation he was accustomed to dealing with. His nervousness throughout the day had made him an easy target. Not knowing what else to do, Mukui decided it would probably be better to agree with his oppressor.

"Aren't you a little old for bullying?" a voice interrupted before Mukui could speak. Both males turned to look down the stairs in surprise.

"Huh?" Tanae was confused, his mouth hanging open. He seemed ready to say something but was too stunned by the sudden appearance of the third person to respond properly.

"Suzuki-san!" Mukui smiled at the girl. There was some sort of power in numbers that would be helpful here, right? Between the two of them, there should be something they could do to protect themselves. His elation lasted until Tanae shot a glare at him, not concerned that someone else had come to oppose him. "Suzuki-san, stay out of this, it's fine…" Mukui muttered, disheartened.

"You heard the kid, Suzuki," Tanae chimed in. "He doesn't want you here, and neither do I. Besides, it's none of your business anyway. The only people that should stick their heads into this are his friends and it's not like he has any of those." He snickered, amused by his own joke.

Suzuki frowned, her lips pursing together. "Well it's true I'm not his friend," she admitted. Mukui felt his spirits drop even lower. At the very least, he still hoped Suzuki wouldn't just abandon him, even if it meant being bullied together. Despite his expectations, the girl didn't walk away. "But I really can't let this go. Mukui-san and I have a tutoring session to attend to and I hate wasting time. So just give him the coin back and go home, will ya? You're in my way."

It wasn't perfect, but it was a better scenario than Mukui could have imagined. Or rather, it wasn't the worst case scenario, which was enough. Even so, his nerves shook against each other while his classmates stared each other down. Tanae was annoyed, and Suzuki continued to glare daggers back in the male's direction.

"Fine, fine," Tanae relented with a heavy sigh. He flipped the coin over the tops of his fingers before tossing it back to its owner. Mukui was so shocked, he almost didn't see it. After a few fumbling moments of almost dropping the coin, he was able to hold it in his hands and clutch it to his chest.

"Thank goodness…"

"I was getting bored anyway," Tanae continued with far too much confidence to be beaten. He shoved his hands into his pockets, still smirking. "I don't need a lame little toy like that. Not when I got this."

Suzuki's eyes widened before turning into a glare. Mukui tentatively followed her gaze back to Tanae's hands. The taller boy had pulled something out of his pocket, holding it up in the air. Looking closer, it could be seen that the item was a purple wireless mouse. "That's mine!" Suzuki shouted, more out of anger than desperation. "Give it back!"

Tanae chuckled and put the mouse back into his pocket. "Heh. You talk tough, Suzuki, but you're no different from Mukui," he said. "Well, besides from your volume levels. All you can do is complain when you're at a disadvantage. It's really sad just how many people are willing to just lay there and let the 'bullies' walk right over you. I expected better of you."

"Like hell I will!" Suzuki shouted, her glare transferring into full-blown anger. She dropped her bag off her shoulders, and it made a loud _thump_ as it hit the ground. Leaving it behind, Suzuki started to make her way up the stairs. Even though she wasn't angry at him, Mukui still felt intimidated. "I'm sorry, Mukui-san, but we're going to have to reschedule."

"Suzuki-san, don't…" Mukui said, but his voice was too quiet to make any impact. The girl walked right past him, and Tanae slipped down from his seat on the railing. On instinct, Mukui took a few small steps away from the pair.

"You're gonna fight?" Tanae asked. Suzuki didn't respond, just walked. "No thanks, I don't care for that sort of thing. It just ain't my style. So instead of beating me up for your mouse and my lunch money, why don't you find some other way to get it back?" Faster than expected, Tanae opened the door behind him, slipping into the building.

"You bastard!" Suzuki ran up the rest of the stairs, chasing him inside. Mukui was left behind, wanting to somehow help but not able to follow.

* * *

"Co-come on, Suzuki, it doesn't have to be like this. I-it was just a joke," Tanae Jun said, his voice shaking. He hadn't been ready for anything like this in the slightest. For one, he didn't expect for someone that wasn't even on the track team to be so fast, let alone able to catch up with him. Just who was this monster anyway?

"You have a shitty sense of humor." Suzuki frowned leaning over Tanae. The boy winced, backing up further against the wall. The door back into the building was close, but he couldn't gather the courage to try to move towards it, towards his salvation. All that he could manage was a whimper.

"I'm sorry, Suzuki-san!" he apologized, bowing his head and clapping his hands in front of him. His eyes were slammed tight in desperation, a feeling he had joked about concerning others but had never felt for himself. It was the cause of the desperate begging. "I promise I won't do it again! I'll leave you and Mukui alone, I swear!"

"Hey, you know why I don't like guys like you?" Suzuki spoke as if Tanae hadn't said a word. The rejection of his apology—no, this denial that his apology even existed—jarred into him harder than his impact with the wall had been. "I guess I really have more reason than others to dislike you, but it's really nothing like that. Although, it is true that I dislike bullies.

"I'm not some righteous hero or anything. I don't have a good heart, and I don't think all people should be treated with kindness. And really, I don't have the mindset to argue against people who suppress others either. So when it comes down to it, I lack all the right qualifiers. It really does make someone wonder why I don't like bullies."

Suzuki squatted down next to Tanae, eliminating her vertical advantage over him. He recoiled, bumping his head against the wall. The physical threat was still there, but her words were a truth without any clouding from society. The presence of another person's true self without intimacy was what was truly scary.

"I don't like cowards," Suzuki said, looking Tanae straight in the eye. "That's it, really. There's nothing more to it, bullies are just big cowards. They don't attack anyone they know they can't beat. Some could say it's strategy, but it's more of an illusion of strength than anything. Their power doesn't mean anything at all.

"And you're even worse, Tanae-san. You only use verbal tactics. The most physical you get is stealing things from others. That's not even direct confrontation, it's stealth. That's all you can really hold over them. And when someone stands up to you—well, 'it ain't your style' to fight, huh? You're barely a bully, so give it up."

Tanae nodded. Any trace of pride he could try to cling onto was gone. His actions were only trying to show complacency so that he could dded. Any trace of pride he could try to cling onto was gone. His actions were only trying to show complacency so that hsomehow escape. Hearing such a blunt analysis of himself was causing Tanae to panic. "I-I told you, Suzuki! I said I'd never do it again! I promised! You're right, I'm a shitty bully so I'll quit! I'll never try to take advantage of anyone again!" Suzuki stood up, making Tanae stop short.

"It's really pathetic that there are still people with that mindset in university…" she muttered, not elaborating on what she meant. She shrugged, shifting her weight. "Oh well!"

With a kick, Tanae was given his escape in the form of unconsciousness. His head and shoulders slumped, a bruise already forming on the side of his face. Suzuki kneeled back down, going through the unconscious students pockets.

"Really, running away is a form of cowardice, too… Especially if it's running away from yourself…"

She spoke to no one at all. After a bit of searching, Suzuki was able to find the mouse in Tanae's back pocket. She turned it over in her hand, checking to see if there had been any damage when she had pushed Tanae against the wall. "It seems okay… Oh, come on!"

Upon investigating mouse, it was obvious that the back cover had been removed, the battery and USB plug-in missing as well. Tanae had probably taken the mouse apart, hiding the parts to mess with her. Since Suzuki hadn't found them in the boy's pockets while searching, it was only logical to assume the only person who knew where they were was currently unconscious.

"I can live without the cover and just get a new battery from home, but the USB can't be replaced…" Suzuki sighed. She had had the mouse before the initial encounter, so it hadn't been stolen before then. Tanae had only gone through the Student Success Building, and Suzuki had been able to stay close behind him the whole time. "I should just have to retrace our steps and it should be easy!"

When the door closed, Tanae was the one who was left behind.

* * *

The mouse's back cover had been ungraciously dumped in the middle of a hallway, where it had landed propped up against the wall beside a trashcan. It had been returned to its rightful place, and the in-progress assembled mouse was safely tucked into its owner's pocket. Suzuki was sitting on the floor, double-checking the trashcan even though it was empty.

"They didn't just take the trash out, did they?" she said to herself, setting the trashcan back down. It wasn't a necessity, so she could live without it, but Suzuki didn't have the money lying around to get a new mouse anytime soon.

"The trash is picked up a total of two times on a weekday in this building," a voice said, with a casualty that was reserved for talking about the weather. "Once after the faculty lunch break, and the second during the night shift. Though the janitors will come and dump it out if a particular trashcan is overflowing. Other buildings have more complex schedules."

Suzuki scoffed, giving an uninterested look to the person addressing her. While it was reassuring to know the USB adapter wasn't lost in a dumpster, she wasn't a big fan of being found digging through a trashcan. "Do you know anything that's not useless, Fukube?"

The boy, Fukube, laughed, a pure sound that took the insult in stride. He even had the gall to smile about it. "Not really," he said. His tone made it sound like a statement of fact as opposed to a confession. "Though I'm curious as to why someone like you would be digging through the trash, Suzuki-san. Did you lose something?"

Suzuki stood up, kicking the trashcan in annoyance. It made a low sound as the plastic hit the wall, but fell back into place. "My wireless mouse's USB adapter," she said, holding up her index finger and thumb to show its size. "I lost it in this hallway so I thought…" Suzuki couldn't finish the sentence. There was no need to fabricate an excuse. Saying she had lost it should be enough.

"You mean this?" Fukube held up the small adapter between his fingers, a mirror of Suzuki's own action. The girl tried to hide her surprise, holding out her hand. Fukube returned the adaptor, taking care not to drop it onto the floor. "My tutor dropped some papers when we were leaving and I was helping her pick them up. I found it on complete accident. I was gonna drop it off at the front desk, but since it's yours, there's no need to."

"Yeah, thanks." Suzuki reassembled the mouse, the back cover clicking back into place. She put it back in her pocket. "Any chance you happened to find a battery lying around, too?" she asked, a faint hope. If the USB adaptor had been in some other hallway, then it would take a search of most of the building to find the battery on her own.

Fukube shook his head. "Nope, nope. Sorry, Suzuki-san. You want me to help you look for that, too? What kind was it?"

Suzuki sighed at the offer. "No don't," she said. Even though the search would go faster with Fukube's assistance, it wasn't something she was willing to accept. Owing people wasn't something she was interested in, either. "It'd just be a waste of time. I'm not crawling around on the floor for some half-dead battery I can easily replace. I give up."

"Suzuki-san, a question." Fukube didn't seem to put off of the idea of not searching, either.

"Hm?" Suzuki hadn't meant to respond, but the sound escaped anyway. It would probably only be a few moments, and she could even refuse to answer, too. It wasn't like it would take too much time, but all she really wanted was to go home and take a bath.

Fukube smiled, like he was genuinely glad that he could ask his question. "I know I haven't known you very long, so I may be wrong. Not to mention a person like me shouldn't be drawing conclusions in the first place," he said. Suzuki thought it was weird, but the orange-eyed boy was eccentric so she didn't bother to say anything. "But you seem to be pretty organized, and you even keep the mouse put together when you're not using it. Isn't it weird to lose something like that in parts?"

"…" Suzuki scowled. Not only had he asked a question that was begging for a long answer, it would seem strange to refuse to answer. Not sure of a proper way to leave without seeming suspicious, Suzuki merely abstained from responding. Fukube was quick to insist.

"Ne?"

"…"

"Ne, ne?" The boy leaned towards Suzuki without fully invading her personal space. Even so, she felt uncomfortable with his eyes locked on her, waiting for an answer. She turned her head away, staring at the wall with its uninteresting wallpaper border. At this rate, there was no way out of it.

"… I got into a fight," Suzuki said.

"Ah." Fukube's smile fell back into place, and he stood up straight. He winked, pointing his index finger into the air like some anime character posing for dramatic effect. "That explains why your bag's outside on the ground and why you're not in your tutoring session with Mukui-san right now."

Suzuki grimaced. She had at least hoped Mukui would move her bag inside, but it seemed this was not the case. No one had taken the bag, but that didn't mean no one had stolen from it either. As concerning as that was, the fact that her classmate recognized her bag on sight and knew her schedule was just plain unnerving. "That's just _creepy_, Fukube."

"Sorry, sorry." The boy dismissed the issue with a wave of his hand. While she wasn't fully willing to let it go, Suzuki wasn't entirely willing to argue about it, either. "How 'bout I make up for it? You obviously don't intend to work on your education, so how about we go and talk about this over food?"

"Like I said, Fukube; you're creepy," Suzuki repeated. Fukube seemed disappointed, almost frowning. Suzuki felt like she had just kicked a puppy in the back alley instead of Tanae.

"I'll pay," Fukube said. It was almost like he could read her like a book, if that was his backup plan. It was a tempting offer in the first place, and it would save her the effort of scraping together dinner later.

"Fine."

He was just lucky Suzuki was even hungry at all.

* * *

"Ah, so that's how it went." Fukube Satoshi nodded a few times, hand supporting his chin. Suzuki nodded herself, biting into one of the hamburgers Fukube had bought her. "You really do have an interesting way of handling things, Suzuki-san."

"Whatever." The girl seemed far more focused on eating than actually participating in the conversation. Fukube left his own meal untouched. While he had ordered a normal meal combo from the menu, it seemed minimal in comparison to the amount of food Suzuki had amassed on her side of the table. Just watching her eat was enough to feel like he was full.

"You were bullied in elementary and middle school weren't you?" Fukube commented out of thin air. Suzuki almost choked on her food, coughing and reaching for her drink. Fukube pushed it towards her, making it easier to get. Once she had swallowed, Suzuki converted her remaining energy into a glare.

"You really are a treasure trove of useless information, aren't you?" she countered. The fact that she didn't deny it was enough to confirm his assumption as the truth.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry." Fukube pushed the order of fries on his side of the tray over to Suzuki's, next to her own. She picked one up and bit into it with a grudging look on her face. Apology accepted. "Although, I guess I can see where you're coming from. A few weeks of knowing each other is a bit too early to be bringing things like this up."

"I'd say considering that we've barely talked in the past few weeks it's the perfect time to prove you're a stalker."

Fukube winced. "Ah, that's pretty harsh…" Stalker was not a word he wanted to be associated with, even if he could see where she had gotten the idea from. For someone with his interests, it was only a matter of time before someone referred to him in that way. Deciding it would be best to not be bothered by those sorts of comments all the time, Fukube regained his composure.

"You deserve it," Suzuki said, obviously put off by how easily he had recovered. "Any other useless information you wish to share while I'm here, Data Base-san?"

Fukube smiled. While he wasn't sure how he felt about being referred to in that way, it was what he was. If she wanted useless information, he could give her useless information. "Suzuki Akiko, age 19. Birthday: June 5, Gemini. Blood type: AB. Height: 160 centimeters. Weight: 49 kilograms. As for the rest of her measurements—"

Suzuki reached her hand across the table, shoving it into Fukube's face and covering his mouth. "Stop it," she said. "You're only proving the point that you're a stalker, not to mention a pervert." Fukube pushed over the parfait he had no interest in eating. Suzuki looked down at it, moving her hand so that the boy could breathe properly again. "But I forgive you so long as you have a good reason."

"I'll still apologize, though. I don't know if my answer will satisfy you at all," Fukube said. "When we first met, you were reminding me of someone else I used to know, so I got curious and looked into you. I did it all legally, too. It's kind of surprising how easy it is to do that."

"Someone you used to know, huh…?" Suzuki wasn't taking the bait to distract her from his reasons. She stated at Fukube, and he had to force himself not to react.

"Yeah…" he said. Suzuki waited for him to elaborate, and Fukube took his opportunity to change the topic. "So how bout we just talk? Little snippets of data like that don't mean a thing in real life. They tell you nothing of what a person is really like. I'm interested in the 'real Suzuki Akiko,' if that's alright."

"Whatever," the girl assented, biting into her second hamburger. It would have been disturbing how uninterested she was if Fukube hadn't been so used to it. Maybe he had misplaced her personality and mixed it up with somebody else. Dismissing the thought, Fukube smiled and spread his hands out in the air.

"Let's start simple," he said. "Why'd you choose to come to this university?"

"They had a good gym and athletics support system," Suzuki answered between bites. It hadn't been the answer Fukube had been expecting, but he pressed on.

"But you're not on any sports teams, Suzuki-san."

This time she didn't comment on his knowledge. "I'm a self-trained athlete."

"If you look at the definition and societal stigmas attached to being an athlete then you really aren't one," Fukube said.

"I suppose. But it's just kind of lame to say 'I exercise a lot' or 'I'm an exerciser.' That last one doesn't even make sense." Suzuki shrugged. "Doing athletic things is good stress relief for me. This school has a gym open to all students and I could find a place to live nearby that I could afford. That's my whole reason, really." She took a large sip from her drink. Fukube could hear the ice shift inside the cup.

"Ah, that explains why you're undecided for your major. It's more about the convenience than the actual schooling you can receive."

"Well what about you?" Suzuki snapped.

"I'm undecided as well," Fukube admitted.

"Then I don't wanna hear it! What did you come to this school for then?" The boy hadn't expected to be answering questions, but Suzuki was so irritated with him that he figured it was best to at least do his best to comply.

"How about I give you some clues and you can guess?" Fukube proposed. Suzuki frowned into her straw. "As you can see, I'm in tutoring. Take in mind that this is not for just one or two of my classes, but all of them. With this in mind and he qualifiers for getting into this school, what do you think the answer to your question is?"

"Hm…" Suzuki meditated the problem over for a few minutes, eating half the fries Fukube had given her. Halfway through bringing a fry to her mouth, it seemed something had dawned on her. "Could it be that you performed so poorly on your other entrance exams you couldn't go anywhere else? This school doesn't make you take an entrance exam so it serves as a default if you can afford it."

Fukube nodded without shame. "That's right," he said, voice filled with unnecessary pride. The university they were both attending was an anomaly in Japan, the first to not require its students take an entrance exam in order to attend. The trade-off was that it was more expensive than a normal university. It still hosted an entrance exam for appearances' sake, giving healthy scholarships to the students who had scored the best.

"I was just joking don't play along with me like that!" Suzuki exclaimed. Fukube stayed silent, and her expression descended into shock. "That's terrible! That's really terrible, Fukube!" She shuddered in horror, and Fukube didn't think she was acting.

"Ah, that's better than what Houtarou did, though," he said. Suzuki seemed skeptical that something could be worse than that. "He came here so he wouldn't even have to try and take an entrance exam."

"Houtarou…" Suzuki pondered over the name. "Oh, you mean Oreki Houtarou-san?" Fukube nodded. The girl seemed confused by the comment. "Is he really that lazy? He always has his homework in the one class that I have with him. He usually has pretty good grades, too."

"Don't let that fool you. He'll do what's needed and not much else." Fukube chuckled, the sound trailing off sadly. "At least that's how he used to be. Now he makes exceptions for wasting energy. I'm his best friend and I'm still shocked that he even wanted to go to school after high school in the first place…"

Suzuki frowned, pausing her work on the second carton of fries. "Fukube, I really don't know that much about Oreki-san, but is it really something to look that worried about?" she asked. Fukube tried to adjust his expression while she spoke. "I mean, most kids these days go to university because it's expected, right? 'You can't get anywhere without an education.' That's been drilled into our heads since day one."

"That just won't do, Suzuki-san," Fukube said, shaking his head. He hadn't been looking for a theory about Oreki in this conversation, but he couldn't just accept the one he had been given either. It was too simple of a solution. "Houtarou just isn't like that at all. The problem is that he wouldn't _want_ to get anywhere, so an education is kind of irrelevant."

"Sorry I'm not much use," Suzuki said, pulling the top off of the parfait's container and unwrapping the spoon from its plastic. She had somehow finished off the fries when he wasn't paying attention. The tray was a wasteland of trash, almost like a fast food elephant graveyard. "Maybe if I knew Oreki-san better I could help?"

"No, I can't ask that of you," Fukube said. "It's my problem with him, so we need to solve it after all. Besides, that's not why I asked you to come here with me."

"It was to ask about the fight with Tanae, right?" Suzuki was eating the parfait with a speed usually reserved for garbage disposals removing clogs from the sink.

"Not exactly." There was a different problem, one that he could ask help with, that needed to be solved. Suzuki was the person that could help him with it.

"Then what was it?"

"Suzuki-san would you like to go on a date with me?"

The girl in question stared at Fukube, eyes wide and spoon hanging from her mouth. The faintest traces of pink were emerging on her cheeks. The spoon slipped out of her open jaw, clattering as it landed in the empty parfait container. The sound seemed to be enough to break Suzuki out of her stupor.

"Huh?"

* * *

This story definitely has some interesting points to it. To start off, it was inspired by a dream I had a while ago, which just so happened to involve a lot of OCs and Satoshi... This just happened to be the result of putting those things down on paper and thinking about how the story would go from there.

As such, I'm using this story to try out some narration and organization techniques with my writing, as well as hopefully play around with some characters and scenarios within _Hyouka_ my brain has been toying around with. I hope that everybody can enjoy this story as it continues.

Now enough slacking, back to NaNoWriMo I go and I'm a bit behind today~.

Next time, Tanae gets scolded by an old friend, Fukube discusses the state of things with Houtarou, Mukui makes a decision, and Suzuki works off some steam. Please look forward to it!


	2. Wednesday, April 17

**Image Training**

By: Aviantei

Wednesday, April 17

* * *

Tanae woke up in the morning with just about as much of a headache as he had the previous day. If he had had his way, the entire incident would have been kept a secret, but that just wasn't going to be the case. He had a black eye to show for his troubles, as well as a bruise on the back of his head, which gave him a limited number of options for resting his head on a pillow. According to the campus nurse, he was lucky he didn't have a concussion with all that he had gone through.

All things considered, though, it could have been worse. Suzuki had only hurt him twice, and gotten away with intimidation for the rest of the time. Tanae almost thought that he would have _preferred_ getting into a fight. That would at least have given him a good story to brag about. Anything sounded at least ten times better than he was cornered by a girl in an alley behind the school and philosophized at until she kicked him unconscious.

It had just taken one kick, too! In addition to being crazy, Suzuki was a monster.

He wanted nothing more than to just stay in his bed all day and try to sleep off his headache and shame. Instead, he got up, took a shower, popped some painkillers and started the walk to class. With the money it had taken to attend the school, his parents had decided it would be easier to shove him into campus housing instead of sending him the funds needed to live in even the cheapest apartments in the city.

As much as Tanae wanted to be mad at them, he just couldn't manage it. His parents hadn't wanted him around the house anymore, and who could blame them? He was just an overgrown punk after all, one that didn't reflect well on the family, and would just look bad if he stayed around the house.

Besides, living on campus meant he had less distance to walk to school. A number of convenience stores were in a reasonable walking distance, too, and he had been living off store-bought bento the past two weeks. At least he wouldn't get any stares for his black eye on the train like he would have otherwise.

That same rule didn't apply once he got into class. There were plenty of whispers, but Tanae chose to ignore them. He had already built up a reputation in the freshman class, so he wasn't going to bother to listen in. It was rather obvious what they all were going to say anyway. Consequently, since he couldn't exactly wear the bruise as a symbol of pride since he had lost, that reputation would probably take a down turn as a result.

But was that really so bad?

"Bwahahaha! Damn, Jun, what happened to your face? You look like you let someone practice their homerun swing on your head and you just stood there and took it."

Comparing Suzuki's kick to a baseball bat. Now that was an accurate statement if Tanae had ever heard one.

"Oh, shut it," Tanae huffed, resting his head on his hand. He bumped his bruise in the process, and hastily switched sides. This would take some getting used to, that was for sure. Hopefully it would be gone by the end of the week and the whole thing would be over.

Despite his command, his classmate continued to snicker. Hiraoka Kouna had been one of his friends in middle school, and had taught him what he knew about fighting. Despite the fact that they were the same age, a lost bet had led to an insistence that Tanae referred to her as _senpai_ for the rest of his life. He made great efforts to avoid using her name whenever possible.

"But, but Jun-chan~." Hiraoka trilled over his name, the same thing she always did when she was taunting him. "As your senpai, it's my job to take care of you whenever you're hurt. And if you're getting yourself beat up, it's my job to avenge my comrades. I'm honor bound!"

"I think you're confusing the terms _kohai_ and _nakama_," Tanae said. "I don't need you to avenge me, either. There's nothing to avenge. Aren't you getting a little too old to be reading shonen manga? You're in college; where do you get that kind of free time anyway?"

Hiraoka looked hurt, a playful pout on her features. Tanae knew it was a trap, and thus gained no guilt from the situation. "It only takes an hour or so to read through _Jump_ every week and it's the beginning of the trimester," she argued. "I think I can afford a little bit of free time like that. Besides, if _Bleach_ really is coming to an end soon, I can't afford to miss a single issue!"

Tanae took a moment to consider the last time he had even bothered to touch an issue of _Jump_, then realized he couldn't remember. _Bleach_ had been one of the big names, though, and while keeping track of where he had abandoned the plot was impossible, the idea of it ending still seemed odd.

"Not that _Bleach_ is entirely worth it anymore. The Fulbring arc was okay, but the ret-conning is really pissing me off. But there are some things you just gotta do, and I hate leaving something unfinished. That _World Trigger_ series is really good, though, even though it just started. I really hope it doesn't get cut. _That_ would just be depressing. Oh, speaking of shonen manga, what really did happen to your eye?"

Only Hiraoka could make that transition seem so effortless, even if it was a somewhat natural change in topic. Caught off guard, Tanae found his mouth working before his brain could catch up. "Got hit," he spluttered.

"Oh, by who?" Hiraoka further prompted. "Why? Don't tell me you were out picking fights. I know for a fact that you can't possibly be as stupid as to pick a fight on school grounds. So that means you were…" She paused, a disappointed look on her face. Tanae felt something akin to what normal people felt when they accidentally kicked a puppy.

Hiraoka had figured out that he had been bullying again and was giving him the same look she always did.

"Yeah, I was, so what?" Tanae tried to make the words sound like he didn't care, but couldn't quite pull it off. He used to be able to do it without thinking. Now it took effort, from some change that had happened between then and now. "It's my business, so shove it."

She was still giving him that look, but Hiraoka didn't say anything else. Even though she disapproved—she would try to say she didn't, but the look made it obvious—she never lectured him, never told him to stop. There could have been a thousand counterarguments, from future to family, but not a single one ever crossed her lips. It was part of why Tanae had let her stick around while he pushed everyone else away.

Funny, that the words Hiraoka had wanted to say for years had come from someone that he had just met two weeks ago.

Suzuki's choice of words hadn't been the typical way of going about things, but maybe that's why they had stuck. She hadn't said that bullying was wrong, or that it would be bad for his future, or that she would turn him in to anyone. It wasn't from a sense of justice or a redemption. Suzuki simply didn't like bullies, so she said so when she saw one.

But most importantly she had told Tanae to quit because he was bad at it. It made him wonder that if he had been a better bully if she would even tell him to stop. Either way, he had the feeling he still would have ended up unconscious that night.

"Hey, Kouna, I've been thinking," Tanae said. His casual drop of her given name completely made Hiraoka gloss over the fact that he had missed the part where he was supposed to call her senpai. "If I decided to put in effort to find something productive to do with my sorry excuse for a life, would you be willing to help me out with that?"

Hiraoka stared him down, trying to figure out exactly what he meant by that. Tanae had to admit that it could have any number of reasons, but would be okay as long as she agreed to help. They could work out the details later. Finally, she sighed and shook her head.

"Man, that kick to head must have really rattled your brain around." She smiled, letting Tanae know it was a joke. "But if the new Jun-chan is one that wants to stop being a bully, I suppose as his senpai I will have to help out and accept this change." She nodded a few times. "I was wondering when you'd have a change of heart. I'm really proud of you so let me do whatever I can."

The mix of her serious and playful tones made Tanae pause to process them properly, but in the end he was sure that she had just agreed. He tried to think of something compelling to say, but couldn't. In the end, he settled for "Thank you."

He decided it was best not to think about the fact that his major life decisions were inspired by the rambling of a girl in a back alley. It could reasonably be justified by the fact that crazy people were supposed to somehow be charismatic, but he didn't like that idea later. He was saved from further contemplation by the professor entering the room and starting class.

* * *

"So you asked her out," Oreki deadpanned, and Fukube nodded. By luck, the brown-haired boy had been able to find his friend during their coinciding free period. It wasn't as if Oreki had been avoiding him, but the formerly lazy boy seemed to be throwing more energy into things like his studies lately, at the consequence of skipping meals. The initial problem aside, Fukube was honor bound to at least make sure his friend wasn't starving himself.

"Well, it's more of just a date than a relationship," Fukube said, deciding the clarification was necessary. As far as he could tell, Suzuki wasn't going to be the type of person to just jump into a full-blown relationship, which was good for him. Fukube wasn't even sure if that was what he was aiming for in the long run.

Oreki sighed, not even touching his lunch. "And she actually said yes," he continued. In contrast, Fukube had already started eating, so he gave a nod in place of a verbal answer. "I know you're a database and all, but you can't know enough about this girl to actually like her. And I _know_ that she doesn't understand you at all if she said yes."

Fukube unraveled the sentence and chose to not take it as an insult. His true nature wasn't something that should concern Suzuki, especially if this wasn't going to go anywhere in the long run. "It's only one date, Oreki. I want to know more about her and she seemed content enough to try and learn more about me, or at least put up with that possibility." He popped a bite of his convenience store bento into his mouth before continuing. "Where it goes after that date is a completely different issue."

"One you haven't even thought about," Oreki said, almost staring Fukube down. The difference between his own bento and the cafeteria bought lunch was almost depressing in quality. "Satoshi, if you want to even think about starting a relationship, don't you think you should get those abysmal grades of yours taken care of first?"

"Mou, Houtarou, that's harsh~," Fukube joked through his wince. "I am in tutoring, you know. And it's not like she isn't either. Besides, Suzuki doesn't seem to be the type of person to think that I should prioritize her over schoolwork. We are both university students after all. And worst case scenario she doesn't want anything else to do with me after this and it'll all be over by next week. That's what your youth is supposed to be like, right?"

Fukube winked, and Oreki stared back at him, disgusted. "You should stop taking your life lessons from terribly written novels and television dramas," he commented. Oreki started to pick through his lunch, hardly paying attention to what was even going into his mouth. At least that much hadn't changed.

Fukube easily finished off his cheap bento and wondered if it would be worth it to go and order something at the register. He had been lucky enough to get a free period within the cafeteria's lunch hours that most other students had in class, so there wasn't a line to deal with. That had been the only reason he had been able to convince Oreki to follow him into the cafeteria.

Failing to resist temptation, Fukube reached for his wallet. He was struck with the memory of the absurd amount of food he had bought for Suzuki last night and the fact that he should be willing to spend money on her on Sunday as the date _had_ been his idea. Resigned, he dismissed the idea of eating until dinner.

Noticing the issue, Oreki pushed part of his lunch over to Fukube. It was so similar to his own actions at the fast food place with Suzuki that he almost wanted to laugh. The only thing that stopped him was the act of stuffing his face.

"You're not taking this seriously, are you?" Oreki asked.

"What do you mean?" Fukube responded, his mouth full. It was amazing how Suzuki could inhale entire meals in a sentence from her conversation partner. Fukube had only made it a few bites in. On a side note, he resolved to never eat convenience store bento again when his university of choice had such excellent food in its dining halls.

Oreki frowned, the corners of his lips turning down lower than before. "This whole affair with Suzuki-san. You're not even trying to think of it seriously at all. Even if you don't think it will work out, doesn't she deserve better than your half-assed attempt?"

Fukube did his best to keep his tone lighthearted. If Oreki of all people was cursing, then it had to be serious. "It's not like I'm completely slacking," he said. "I'm just also preparing for the possibility that it might not work out. People can go on dates without being completely committed to each other." It wasn't like he hadn't done that before.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Oreki was blatantly ignoring his food. "Do you think you can just make up for everything by having a few random flings? That's not how it works, Satoshi. Not even trying is just going to make it worse. Are you even considering how—?"

"Houtarou," Satoshi interrupted before the sentence could go any further. "What about you, Houtarou? Do you think I'm the only one that is doing something they shouldn't be doing right now? If you're going to try to pull the morality act on me, I don't want to hear it. What I do is my business, and unless you're willing to share your own reasons, I don't think I'm willing to share mine.

"You wouldn't understand anyway."

Fukube felt bad for what he had to say, but there wasn't any other way to put it. It wasn't as if they could have a full-out confrontation in the middle of the cafeteria, either. Oreki sighed and pulled on the forelock of his hair a few times, lost in thought.

"You're right," he admitted. "I wouldn't understand." As if he also realized it would be too much of a hassle to get into an argument, he resumed eating his lunch. Fukube returned to his own portion, taking a few bites to adjust his line of thought.

"Man, the food here is really good, isn't it?" he asked cheerfully. Oreki, understanding immediately, nodded.

"Yeah, it is."

* * *

Mukui drummed his fingers against the table nervously, waiting for Suzuki to finish the problem she was working on. With a job as a tutor, he had plenty of time to sit around and do his own homework while he was teaching his classmates the same thing. The few assignments he had left were readings, and the same worksheet Suzuki was attentively trying to complete was sitting in front of the boy, waiting as a comparison to check her answers.

He didn't know how he was feeling. A part of him had considered just wanting to go home after his classes, to call off from his work and lay around in bed, staring at the ceiling. But Suzuki had caught up to him in the halls, apologized for skipping yesterday, then asked for a make-up tutoring session since the assignment she should have been working on was due tomorrow.

And how was he supposed to say no whenever it was his fault she had missed their session yesterday?

It was almost frustrating how she didn't say anything about it, though. To her, it was like the incident with Tanae had never happened. And when you were someone like her, someone who could stand up for themselves and burst in, heroically saving the day, maybe that _was_ nothing. Maybe that was normal.

Mukui couldn't live up to that. A big chunk of his life was being on the victim end in those scenarios, being the kid cornered after school and picked on. He had always been a little overweight, was way too smart for his own good, and notorious for not being able to say a word to anyone about the situation. In other words, he had allowed himself to become the perfect victim.

At first, he had accepted it. There was always someone like him, someone it was perfectly natural to take advantage of. If he was supposed to play that role in society, then that was how it would be. He never even considered saying anything to his parents, standing up against his bullies, or trying to make himself into someone that wouldn't be picked on. Even if he did those things, wouldn't someone else get picked on anyway? It was better that way.

But now, he wasn't so sure. Mukui couldn't just accept that kind of logic. Someone knew, someone that would do something, so maybe it was over. Maybe Tanae would leave him alone. This was university after all. Surely something would be different now that he had come here.

But something was supposed to have been different before, and he had still been bullied.

But something had been different, and he still felt the same sense of acceptance, that this was his place.

So why was it again that he felt like it wasn't okay? Why didn't he want to be the victim? Why wasn't he complacent with the role he had been given anymore?

Suzuki frowned at her homework and violently took an eraser to the last line of the equation she had written. It was the same ferocity that she had taken to Tanae, in the dissatisfaction and the way she took it down without mercy. Mukui felt useless and in awe just watching her. It was like the fact that he had been saved had changed everything, that there was a hero out there ready to save him.

With just as much force, Suzuki finished the problem and pushed it over to Mukui. "How is it?" she asked. Mukui's eyes ran over her work, trying to compare it to his own, but ended up not being able to focus on the numbers at all. Suzuki frowned at his expression. "That bad, huh?"

"Huh? No, not at all, Suzuki-san," Mukui said, trying to save himself. "I'm just focusing, that's all." Suzuki stared him down, not backing down an inch. It was interesting just how intimidating a person could be over homework of all things. Then again, Mukui had tutored students who were far more obsessed with their grades than Suzuki was, so it wasn't all that surprising either.

"Bullshit, you're not focusing at all." With zero effort, Suzuki hit the problem right on the head. Mukui winced, giving it away. "That's way too weird for a brainiac like yourself to be this distracted from homework, Mukui-san," she said, leaning across the table. "Don't tell me you're having a life crisis only a few weeks into your first semester."

She probably hadn't meant them as an insult, but the words still hurt. Was this a life crisis? Mukui didn't think so, but it was enough for him to think about what exactly was wrong with him. These sort of things were supposed to wait longer, or not happen so suddenly, right? There was supposed to be more to life first, right?

So why was the phrase "life crisis" the only real way to describe it?

"Well, I suppose you could say that… but it's nothing for you to worry about, Suzuki-san." Mukui tried to look back to the job at hand, using a finger to guide his eyes over the lines he was supposed to be reading. Even if he were to admit his problems, there was no way someone like Suzuki could understand anyway. Not when she was as strong as she was.

_Strong._

Mukui put the papers down and looked her in the eye. Suzuki was watching him carefully, trying to figure him out. Mukui took a deep breath. "How do you become a strong person, Suzuki-san?" he asked. He waited for her to laugh, but she only stared at him blankly. "I was thinking you would know, since you are someone who's strong. If you don't want to answer, it's alright, though."

Suzuki laughed, but it wasn't with malice. It wasn't with humor, either. It was just a low chuckle, and felt more like it was done on accident than delivered. "You seem to have come to a very wrong conclusion, Mukui-san," she said. "You see, I'm not strong at all."

Mukui felt like he was getting slapped in the face. "But what you did with Tanae-san!" he protested. "That was incredible. How can you say you're not strong Suzuki-san?"

"I think you're confusing strength with selfishness, Mukui-san," Suzuki said. She shook her head and leaned back in her seat, eyes locked on the ceiling. "You see, I don't have any of the right mentality to be considered strong. I'm just someone who does what they want."

"But you need to be strong to get away with that," Mukui said. "If you're someone like me, you can't do that. There are people to stop you, people who get away with what they want because they're strong. Whenever I try I only get stopped." He was more angry than depressed at this point, which was good. He wouldn't be able to get his point across if he was crying like an idiot.

Despite this, or perhaps because of it, no emotion appeared in his voice at all.

Suzuki only cracked her neck. "Oh, so you're one of those types huh?" She stretched her arms, still looking up. "I guess that's strength, but I don't think so. I feel like if I was really strong then I'd be able to do something else with this 'strength' you think I have. I'm certain there are better uses for it."

"But—" Mukui started, only to have his words cut off by Suzuki dropping her hands onto a table. The sound echoed throughout the room.

"Now, my turn. Why are you asking me this, Mukui-san?"

Mukui lost track of his sentence, unable to form proper words. Suzuki stared at him, waiting for an answer. He took a deep breath. "I want to be strong," he said. "I'm sick of this so I thought you—"

"No way," Suzuki said, not even giving him time to finish. "You've got some illusion of me running around in your head that I don't like at all. Get rid of it, she's a bad role model, forget you ever even thought such a thing. If you wanna be strong, you sure as hell don't need me to be giving you advice. Following in my footsteps is only meant to end in disaster.

"Everything I do is for myself anyway. No point in following that."

And without giving a Mukui a chance to retort, Suzuki retrieved her homework from his hands and began work on the next problem.

* * *

By the time Suzuki finished her homework, she was feeling exhausted, at least in the mental sense. She should feel accomplished. All her homework was done for the next two days, she had finished her reading for the next week during lunch, and she had already started to review for the test that she had coming up soon. All things considered, she was living the life of a successful university student, and had a far better work ethic then some of her freshman classmates.

That was saying something, considering this was the Japanese educational system and all.

If anything, it was Mukui's comments that had put her on edge. She was strong? What a joke! The kid sure was stupid for someone that had been recruited into the student success center as a freshman. Having to walk through the same hallway as yesterday where she had encountered Fukube the previous day didn't help. All it did was make her think about Tanae and his bullshit.

"So it's not exhaustion, it's just anger…" she muttered to herself. Suzuki sighed in relief. _So all I have to do is go for a run and it'll go away. I'll run until I feel sick… No, I haven't felt sick from running in years. I'll just have to go until I stop thinking then, that sounds good._ She pushed open the door, adjusting the drawstring bag that held her school items and change of clothes. "I really hate talking to people about myself like that. What's their problem anyway?"

"Suzuki-san."

Suzuki stopped at the sound of her name, looking at the person who had said it. Leaning against the stone railing of the steps was a boy with messy black hair and green eyes. He looked bored, which Suzuki couldn't blame him for if he had been waiting for her since she had gone in for tutoring. After a few moments, his name sprang into her mind.

"Oh, Oreki Houtarou-san, right?" she asked. Just saying the name made her think about what she had talked about with Fukube. He had made it seem like there was some sort of problem, but looking at Oreki she just couldn't see it. The boy nodded in recognition of his name but didn't say anything else. Suzuki did her best to smile. "Can I help you with something, Oreki-san?"

Oreki shifted uncomfortably, almost like he was thinking about not even bothering to say what he had come here for. Suzuki frowned, reminding herself to be polite. She didn't have the patience to deal with anyone right now, but was trying anyway. Why was that?

_Because that just won't do, Suzuki-san._

"Would it be alright if we talked about something?" Oreki asked, finally breaking his silence. "I can understand if you're busy, but this really is important." The look on his face didn't match the urgency in his words at all, but Suzuki guessed that was just the kind of person he was. Suzuki shrugged.

"Don't tell me you need me to help you out with some assignment, Oreki-san," she said. Suzuki did her best to smile. Oreki only shook his head, and her expression dropped the second it was formed. She sighed. "Well, this sounds like this'll take a while. How about you walk with me down to the track? I need to get some exercise in today and I would like to do it so I can get home before it's dark."

If anything, Suzuki had expected him to hesitate. Instead, Oreki nodded once, setting off towards the track without another word. It took Suzuki a moment to realize that's what he was doing as opposed to just leaving. She sighed, tossing her bag over her shoulder and following. It took a large amount of self-control to not just run down the hill to where the track was.

After a bit, she started to regret not doing just that. While Oreki was keeping up with her pace just fine, it felt like she was walking way too slow. To make matters worse, he wasn't saying anything either. For someone who seemed to need to talk about something, Oreki was taking his sweet time.

_If it's not that important, just go away!_ Halfway down the hill, Suzuki was terribly tempted to stop holding back her thoughts and just be honest. Fukube was right; there was something wrong with Oreki. She didn't need to be his best friend to understand that. Suzuki took a deep breath to speak.

Oreki spoke first.

"Listen, I don't know a good way to put this," he said. Suzuki closed her mouth but still ended up glaring daggers at the boy. She was going to need to run twice as long at this rate. "But you're the Suzuki-san that Satoshi is going on a date with this weekend, right?" Suzuki gaped, but couldn't get a response out before Oreki continued talking. "I understand that this is a decision for you to make, but I don't think that it's a good idea for you to get into a relationship with Satoshi."

Suzuki frowned. Despite the warning he had given, Oreki seemed as bored as ever. If Fukube were here, he could probably read things on Oreki's face that that Suzuki couldn't. Then again, if Fukube were here, they probably wouldn't even be having this conversation in the first place.

"Just what the hell are you talking about?" Suzuki snapped. "Are you serious? What is this even about, anyway? There's some bullshit going on between you two that you're both just running around other people to avoid talking about right?" She didn't like taking her anger out on others usually, but she didn't really care right now. She needed to get her frustration out. Oreki was there.

_Everything I do is for myself._

Oreki seemed to have his expression darken, only a little. Or maybe it was a trick of the light. Suzuki couldn't tell. She wasn't very good at reading even the people she was close to. "How much do you—? No, it doesn't matter." Oreki shook his head and started to play with a forelock of his hair. "Like I said, there's no good way to say this that means you'll understand. It's just… there's a certain way Satoshi thinks about other people that isn't exactly compatible with getting into a relationship is all."

"Oh? And what is that? Why don't you try explaining it to me instead of jumping around with the fucking point?"

"I can't explain it because I don't understand it. But…" Oreki sighed like he was tired of talking already. "There's a chance that maybe you could understand it. I don't know what kind of person you are, Suzuki-san, so I can't say anything for certain. But I do think it's something you should know about before you even think about anything, that's all."

They were down the hill now, on the opposite end of the track to the gates. Suzuki stopped, hand gripping onto the chain link fence hard enough to prevent blood flow to her fingers in a matter of seconds. "It obviously can't be that important if you can't even explain it to me. 'Oh, that guy who asked you out? Don't do it. Why? Sorry, I can't tell you.'" She let out a bark of a laugh. "Do you realize how fucking _ridiculous_ that sounds, Oreki?!"

Oreki only stared at her. Suzuki wanted to wring his neck, kick him in the face, anything. There were people who were passive, and when they tried to be active there were mixed results. As far as Suzuki was concerned, Oreki was a person who was worse than passive, he was _inactive_, and his attempt at doing something went downhill because he didn't know how to handle anything.

She couldn't even say way she was so worked up. It was just a date, not a relationship. She didn't even know if she cared. And yet—

"You know, Oreki-san, I can't stand people who tell others how to live their lives."

"I'm not doing that, Suzuki-san," Oreki said. "I'm only telling you my thoughts. I think you should ask Satoshi about it. If you can understand him, or at least accept him, I think it will do him some good. In the end the decision's up to you." Finishing his point, the brunette boy bowed. "I'm sorry for the intrusion. Thank you for your time."

And the then he was walking away, back up the hill to wherever he had to be next.

Suzuki ran to the track entrance. There were marks on her hand from the fence, crosses making diamonds. She couldn't feel her fingers. She ran without stretching, going lap after lap until her brain was so numb she wasn't even angry anymore. She wasn't anything.

By the time she was finished, it was already dark. Suzuki went home, took a bath, and collapsed, making a silent wish that she wouldn't sleep through her alarm in the morning.

* * *

Well, it appears that Wednesday is going to be the update day for the year.

Thank you to Hanabi Mirei and Madin456 for your follows, favorites, and reviews! I'm glad to hear that you've enjoy the story so far and I hope you continue to enjoy the rest of it!

Also, a happy new year to everyone! As we all know, this is the time of resolutions, so I've decided to make one for myself. If you want details on my writing in general or how my update schedule is going to work out... let's just say that being more active on that blog I set up a while ago is part of it. Mostly I'll probably babble on twitter, but... Links are on my profile if you care.

Not much else to say about this chapter...

Next time, Suzuki talks to an old friend, Tanae takes a trip to the mall, Fukube and Suzuki have their date, and Mukui considers his options. Please look forward to it!

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